Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net

MANILA CITY, Philippines — Most kids at the age of eight are probably busy playing their favorite toys or the computer.

Julian Duque, 8, is unlike those kids. He loves to play but using his little fingers on the violin.

Duque was six years old when he started playing the violin. None of his parents were interested in music. But that didn’t stop him from learning the instrument.

At his current age, he can already play classical music from Mozart, among others.

He can also play music medleys that can give comfort on a stressful day.

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Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net

ALTERNATIVE education is the flagship program of Educational Research and Development Assistance (ERDA) Foundation, Inc. It is a response to the growing number of out-of-school youth in the country.

Fr. Pierre Tritz, founder of ERDA Foundation, saw the need to take action on the need to get these young people back to school. Thus he gave up his foreign nationality and acquired Filipino citizenship to continue his mission in the country.

ERDA has started various programs for these young people, including those found scavenging, wondering the streets and indigenous children who disregarded by society.

Seeing that the key to a better future is education, hence, ERDA put up the Tuklas, Kalinga, Laruan, Aralan at Sanayan (TuKLASan) Center for street children in San Juan, Metro Manila and the Sanayan ng mga Batang Nanambakan (SaBaNa) Center for young scavengers in Tondo, Manila.

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The Philippine national anthem’s title has often been mistaken as, “Bayang Magiliw.” It is the first few words in the lyrics composed by Julian Felipe in 1898.

But more than being a cheerful nation, the Philippines is a chosen land, hence, the title, “Lupang Hinirang.”

I remember singing Lupang Hinirang in my elementary years under the heat of the sun every morning in school. Back then, I felt that the national anthem had lost its meaning, as we sang it everyday. Of course, that was before. Today, you will hear the national anthem played in movie theaters before it opens and closes. So it was refreshing to hear a new version of the national anthem complete with new visuals.

For several minutes, I was enthralled, as I saw, for the first time, the recent movie screening of Mae Paner’s Lupang Hinirang at the Rockwell Powerplant Mall.

Here’s the same video uploaded on YouTube:

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By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

YOU often see crocheted bags made of threads and yarn. But have you seen one using plastic?

The Invisible Institute, a non-government organization (NGO), is now using plastics as material for their homegrown crocheted bags.

“As we all know, we have many poor women who really need more income generating activities because they have so many people depending on them. What we’ve done is to take those people whom I call ‘invisible’ or ‘unseen’ and put them together with invisible waste, which I consider factory waste,” Invisible Institute founder and artist Ann Wizer said.

The group uses “clean trash and garbage bags” as materials to teach poor women to crochet.

“It’s a very simple skill. And we’re also teaching any men who are willing,” said Wizer.

Crochet is a French term that literally means “hook.” It describes a “series of interlocking loops onto a chain using a slender rod with a hook at the end,” according to CrochetDoilies website.

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By Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net

TAGUIG CITY, Philippines – A group composed of children of Filipino war veterans continue to fight for the benefits due them.

Joining the celebration of Veteran’s Day at American Cemetery, the Philippine Veterans Legion (Sons and Daughters) (PLV) Laguna Chapter said they will persist on helping beneficiaries of the veterans during the World War II.

The group was established in the 1980s but was only formally recognized last January 30, 2008.

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By Marjorie Gorospe
INQUIRER.net

TAGUIG City, Philippines — United States Ambassador Kristie Kenney together with some American and Filipino military dignitaries celebrated the Veteran’s Day at American Cemetery.

“If not for their sacrifices, our nations will never be free. They are the reason why we can vote peacefully, freely and with excitement actually,” said Kenney who joined the honoring of the war veterans.

Kenney said she appreciated the enduring friendship between Filipino and Americans, as she acknowledged Filipinos who served the Americans during the World War II.

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